Jürgen Klinsmann is not one for blowing his own trumpet when publicising his second big project. But the “Agapedia” children’s charity he founded is nevertheless something very close to the 40-year-old’s heart. “Along with my job as national coach, Agapedia my most important work,” said Klinsmann. Officially known as “Agapedia – Jürgen Klinsmann Foundation – charitable organisation”, the charity is already in its tenth year of existence. But the public is not generally aware of Klinsmann’s charitable work.

“Through my new job, I hope I can increase people’s awareness of the charity’s  work in the time leading up to the World Cup,” explained Klinsmann. However, the children’s charity has been successful for a long while now. The name Agapedia comes from the Greek and means, “love of children”. The German international got the impulse to found the charity when on tour with the German Football Association – DFB. “The idea evolved during a trip to Tirana in Albania for an international where my childhood friends Stefan and Marika Barth were working in a clinic at the time. They showed me the catastrophic situation of the children and we decided to build up a children’s charity together,” said the national coach.

Agapedia’s target of offering street children and orphans, especially in Eastern Europe, a better future has been fulfilled. The charity organises and supports aid projects in Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania as well as a children’s home in Esslingen, Germany. The extent of the donations is as equally unknown as the financial basis Klinsmann made available when the charity was founded. But it probably involves a considerable sum of money as Agapedia has a 40-strong staff in the meantime. Klinsmann stresses, every donated Euro goes to the benefit of the children as the money flows directly into the various projects. “I  pay for the administration costs myself,” he said.

When managing the charity, he ensures it remains independent. Independence  played a part right from its foundation. “In the big charities, I never knew exactly how much of my donation went towards covering administration costs,” explained Klinsmann. So he immediately set up his own charity. It meant he was independent of associations and other organisations. Things have stayed that way until today. Klinsmann prefers to decline supposedly generous gifts if he gets the impression that the real purpose behind the donated monies is to advertise the donator’s own company.

He gains far more enjoyment when he visits the homes. The former Minister President of Baden Württemberg Erwin Teufel also paid a visit to the Agapedia Children’s Centre in Bulgaria. The so-called “State Foundation” also supports the project which cares for youngsters that have been released from orphanages after reaching the 18 year age limit. In Rumania and Moldova, the charity mainly looks after children that have been abandoned by their families. The main focus, in addition to the running of the homes, is the search for adoptive families in the children’s own country and abroad. Up to the FIFA World Cup 2006TM, Klinsmann  hopes to be able to increase the income of his social institution. But there’s no way he will be banging any drums. Rather than causing a lot of commotion, the charity prefers to work quietly and unobtrusively in the background.

Here you can find more information about the team from Germany...

Here you can find more information about the star of the team from Germany...